The overall objective of this project is to study a new and innovative seismic shear wall systemfor use in composite steel-concrete structures. The wall is made from two edge steel columns connected by HPFRCCs coupling beam-damper elements. HPFRCCs (High Performance Fiber Reinforced Coment Composites) offer optional combinations of properties such as strength, toughness, energy, absorption, stiffness, ductility and damping resistance. Their implications in structural applications can be particularly beneficial, especially when seismic loads are considered. The new wall system is meant as a lateral load resisting element whereas the coupling beam-damper elements (CBDE) act as energy made from HPFRCC materials and are designed to dissipate energy by a shear-friction mechanism. They have an effective span-to-depth ratio smaller than that of regular coupling beams and have slotted and notched mid-section to insure the desired behavior. Advantages of the system include prefabrication, replaceability, durability, and life cycle cost effectiveness. The proposed wall system is very well suited for use with steel framed integrated with other construction materials and systems such as precast-prestressed concrete structures or case in place concrete structures.
The main tasks of the research are: 1) to design, test, and evaluate the performance, of a number of coupling beam-damper elements (CBDE) subjected to simulated seismic loads, and 2) to develop a simple analytical model simulating their behavior; and 3) to draw some preliminary guidelines on their design in order to allow their implementation in the new shear-wall system under evaluation.
